Work handling equipment for sewing machine tables



Dec. 18, 1962 F. R. HERMANNS WORK HANDLING EQUIPMENT FOR SEWING MACHINETABLES 5 Sheets-5heet 1 Filed April 22, 1959 INVENTOR. Frederick R.Hermanns wmvEss YW/.&M ATTORNEY Dec. 18, 1962 F. R. HERMANNs WORKHANDLING EQUIPMENT FOR SEWING MACHINE TABLES Filed April 22, 1959 3Sheets-Sheet 2 as 49 as 69 46 8| 193 INVENTOR.

' Frederick R. Hermanns ATTORNEY Dec. 18, 1962 F. R. HERMAN'NS 3,0

WORK HANDLING EQUIPMENT FOR SEWING MACHINE TABLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledApril 22, 1959 INVENT OR.

Frederick R. Hermanns WITNESS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,068,821WORK HANDLING EQUHPMENT FOR SEWING MAtIHEJE TAPJLES Frederick R.Hermanns, Union, N .3 assignor to The Singer Manufacturing Company,Elizabeth, NJ., a cor poration of New Jersey Filed Apr. 22, 1959, Ser.No. 803,122 Claims. (Cl. 112260) This invention relates to Work handlingequipment suit able for use with sewing machine tables and includeswork-receiving troughs, work-supporting boards, workstorage shelves aswell as brackets and legs for sup porting said troughs, boards andshelves, and for other improved elements all of which are adapted to beused with and to form a complete portable unit with an industrial typesewing machine table, and one of the objects of the present invention isto provide improved items of this category.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means foradjustably securing a work-receiving trough, one or more work-supportingboards, a work-supporting shelf and brackets, to the legs of anindustrial type sewing machine table.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improvedwork-supporting board or boards that can be located on either or bothsides of a sewing machine operator and which can be adjusted upwardly ordownwardly or sidewardly as desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved work-receivingmembers associated with a sewing machine table and to provide verticallyadjustable means for supporting these members.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improvedwork-receiving trough that can easily be cleaned.

Having in mind the above and other objects that will be evident from anunderstanding of this disclosure, the invention comprises the devices,combinations and arrangements of parts as illustrated in the presentlypreferred embodiment of the invention which is hereinafter set forth insuch detail as to enable those skilled in the art readily to understandthe function, operation, construction and advantages of it when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an industrial type sewing machinetable equipped with items embodying the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the table shown in FIG. 1, partsbeing broken away to show constructional details,

FIG. 3 is an end perspective view of a portion of the table shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, parts of the structures having been removed in order toshow the wire frame construction,

FIG. 4 is an end perspective view of a portion of the table shown inFIGS. 1-3, but showing the table equipped with a work-storage shelf ortable-top extension parts of which are broken away,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the work-storage shelfpositioned below the level of the tabletOD,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 2 and FIG.7 is a fragmentary elevational view taken in the direction of the arrow7 of FIG. 2.

The present invention, is shown in the accompanying drawings asassociated with an industrial type sewing machine table indicatedgenerally by the numeral 16 and comprising a table-top 17 adapted tosupport a sewing machine 18 driven by a belt 19 which in turn is drivenby a motor-powered transmitter 21 under the control of 3,068,821Patented Dec. 18, 1962 a treadle 22. The table top 17 is supported by apair of spaced leg members, one end of the table-top 17 resting directlyon a horizontal support 23 from which depends a front upper leg 26 and arear upper leg 27. The front upper leg 26 is vertically adjustablyattached to a front lower leg 36 and the rear upper leg 27 is verticallyadjustably attached to a rear lower leg 37. In like manner,

' the other end of the table-top 17 rests directly on a support 23' fromwhich depends a front upper leg 26' and a rear upper leg 27'. The frontupper leg 26' is vertically adjustably attached to a front lower leg 36and the rear upper leg 27' is vertically adjustably attached to a rearlower leg 37'. The lower legs 36 and 37 are connected by cross braces 44and 46 and the lower legs 36 and 37 are connected by cross braces 44'and 46'. The treadle 22 is carried by a rod 47 extending between crossbraces 46 and 46'. The upper legs 26, 27, 26 and 27' are adjustablyconnected to the lower legs 36, 37, 36' and 37' by means of boltsdesignated as 4-8, 49, 48 and 49. Other bolts indicated by numerals 50,50', 51, 51', 52, 52, 55 and 55' pass through holes formed in the legsand are used in ways presently to be described.

The present invention comprises several items used in combination withthe hereinbefore described table 16, these items being a work trough 53,a pair of trough support brackets 54 and 54', a pair of work-boards 56and 56', a pair of anti-tipping brackets 57 and 57' and a work-storageshelf 58. All of these items are constructed from bent-wire weldedframes to which, in the case of the trough 53, the work-boards 56 and56, and the work-storage shelf 58 have been added hard board replaceablewall inserts presently to be described.

The work trough 53, as best seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, is made from awire frame having a rectangular upper rim formed from short end bars 63and 64, a long front bar 66 and a long rear bar 67. The body of thetrough 53 comprises four spaced front-to-rear U-shaped 'bars 68 andthree spaced end-to-end U-shaped bars 69. Each of these U-shaped barshas one horizontal reach and two divergent upstanding arms. The upperends of the U- shaped bars are welded to the rim 63, 64, 66, 67 atpoints such as 70, and the front-to-back bars 63 are welded to theend-to-end bars 69 at intersections such as at 71. Each of theupstanding arms of the U-shaped bars has a flattened portion providedwith a hole 72 adapted to accommodate a flush head bolt the purpose ofwhich will presently appear. The bar 66 is provided with horizontallyextending lugs 75 which extend beneath the table top 17 and to whichthey are attached by a wood screw.

Since each of the U-shaped bars 68 and 69 has upstanding arms whichdiverge, the trough 53, per se, will have two upwardly divergentupstanding end walls, an upstanding front wall and an upstanding rearwall which substantially define an inverted truncated pyramid. Thismakes it possible to nest a plurality of troughs 53 for easy shipping.The two end walls of the trough 53 are covered respectively byreplaceable hard board panels or inserts 73 and 74, whereas the frontwall of the trough 53, that is the wall adjacent to the rear edge of thetable-top 17, is covered a perforated hard board panel or insert 76. Therear wall of the trough 53 is covered by a solid hard board panel orinsert 77. The multiplicity of perforations 78 in the front wall hardboard 76 allow air to pass through the hard board panel 76 and therebyventilate the electric motor driven transmitter 21 located below thetable-top 17. The bottom of the trough 53 is covered by a solid bottomhard board panel or insert 79. The four panels 73, 74, 76 and 77 aresecured to the wire frame by screws which pass through holes in thepanels and enter the previously mentioned holes 72 formed in the bars 68and 69. The bottom panel 79 is not held by screws but does have itssubstantially in. the form of a right triangle and ha-sa vertical side81, an almost straight horizontalside 82- and a hypotenuse or inclinedside 83. Each of the three sides 81; 82 and 83 comprises two' parallelwires held in spaced relation to one another.. The upper bolt 51 (FIG.4)or'the intermediate bolt 50 (FIGS. 3 and. 5)

may be'made to pass'through any portion of the'open-- ing between theparallel wires of the-vertical side 81.

This makes it possible to secure the bracket 54 to the leg 27 in severalpositions, forexample, in the intermediate positionshown in FIG. 3 inthe high position shown in FIG. 4 or in a low position shown in FIG. 5.Also the brackets may be adjusted upwardly or down' wardly with respectto the bolts which hold them. It will be recognized that the brackets5454'- in theintermediate position of'FIG. 3 support the trough 53, thatthe brackets 54-54 in the high position of FIG. ,4 support the shelf 58in an elevated position, and that the brackets'54-54' in the lowposition of FIG. 5 support the shelf 58 in the low position.

The two work boards 56and 56 are identical and thus only one work boardwill be described in detail: The work board 56 is made from arectangular wire frame (FIG. 3) having'sid'e bars 86 and f 87 and frontand rear end bars 88 and89. Cross braces 91; 92, 93,;

96 and 98 are located below the'fra'me and oppositeends of'the variouscross braces are welded to the side bars 86' and 87. This arrangementprovides a pocket or well which receives a hard board top 99 (FIG. 1).To the braces 92 and 93 are secured a pair of depending upper legs 101andiGZ and to the lower end of each of the upper legs 101 and 102,respectively, are adjustably secured lower legs111 and 112. The leg 111is connectedto the leg 112 by a cross brace 113'and the legs 101111 andl02112 are respectively connected to the side bars 86, 87 by batterbraces 116 and 117; The rear bar 89 carries two outwardly extendingstuds 118- 118 which enter a slot formed by a two-wire horizontaladjuster-link 119. The link 119 at a location adjacent to its center isWelded to a two-wire vertical adjuster link 121 which in turn is'adjustably held to the front leg 36 by bolts 48 and 55. The links 119and 121 substantially form a cross, andloosening the nuts on studs-118118 permits the work board 56 to be adjusted sidewise. Loosening thebolts 48-55 allows the workboard 56 to be adjusted vertically. It Willbe understood that the legs 101-111 and 162-112 will also be adjustedwhen the work board 56 is adjusted vertically. Because of the crossformed by links 119 and 121, a work board 56' also can be attached tothe leg 36' in the manner shown in FIG. 1.

The work-storage shelf 58 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is' formed from a rectangularwire frame having endbars 163 and 164-, a long front bar 166 and a longrear bar 167; A plurality of short bars, some of which are shown at 168,169 and 171 (FIG. 4), are located below the frame andopposite ends ofthe short bars are weldedJ-to the bars 166 and 167. This provides apocket which re? ceives a hard board cover 179'that is held in'place byflush head screws and nuts 180, the screws passing through holes in thevarious short bars. The work storage shelf 58 rests on the brackets 54and 54" and is held to these brackets by bolt, nut and washercombinations 184. The work shelf 58 isprovided" witha vertical backboard 177, a front panel '176 having perforations similar to thepreviously mentioned perforated panel 76.

The top surface of the work storage shelf 58 may be positioned flush(FIG. 4) with the top of the'tabletop17 in which case the back board 177extends'above the top surface of the cover 179 and above the top surface of the table-top 17. 'The Work storage shelf, 58 may be positionedat any one of several positions (FIG. 5) below the upper surface of thetable-top 17. The various positions of the shelf 58' are obtained bybolting-the brackets5 4 and 54' at various bolt locations, for exampleat 51 and 50," on the rear legs 27, 27, 37 and- 37', .and by shiftingthe brackets 54-54 with relation to the bolts.

The anti-tipping brackets 57 and 57 are 'identical'and thus only onebracket will be described in detail. Bracket 57 (FIG. 3) is in the formof a right triangle and has avertical side 191, a horizontal side 192and a hypotenuse or inclined side 193.

The vertical side 191 has 'an integral angle brace 196 (FIG. 7) whichextends adjacent to the'left side of lower leg-37 to which thebracket-57 is attached.

Eachof the sides 191, 192 and.193 comprises two parallel wires held inspaced relation to one another.

The bottom bolt 52.passes between the parallel wires which form thevertical side 191 and thus the bracket 57 is securely held to the lowerportion of the lower rear leg 37; Brackets 57 and 57 prevent the sewingmachine tablefrom tipping over backwards.

When assembled the sewing'machine table 16 and the various elements ofthe present invention form work handling equipment which can be moved asa unit from place to place, as needed. Also thevarious elements'may beadjusted with relation to the table, in order, advantageously, toperform sewing work in the easiest-and least expensive manner.-

From the above it can be seen that the work handling equipment of thepresent invention has many advantages, some of which are:

(a) The various elements when assembled proved a" Work: troughs 53'canbe nested for easy shipment. y}

(g) Thew ork storage shelves 58 can be supported at several differentelevations. (h) The work handlingequipment is, extremely flexible 'andcan be adapted to servemany needs.

' ,(i) The hard board, which forms part of the work handling equipmentis free of slivers or other imperfections and, if the hard board shouldbecome broken, it is easily replaced in the field.

Having thus described the nature of my invention, what I claim hereinis:

1. Work handling equipment for use with a sewing machine, saidequipmentcomprising in combination, a tabletop, a pair'of'upper front legs and apair of upper rear legs attached to said table-top, a pair of lowerfront legs and a pair of lower back'legs, means for vertically adjustingsaid upper legs with respect to said lower legs being adjustable withrespect to said lower front leg and independently adjustable withrespect to said table-top.

2. Work handling equipment for use with a sewing machine, said equipmentcomprising in combination, a tabletop, a pair of upper front legs and apair of upper rear legs attached to said table-top, a pair of lowerfront legs and a pair of lower rear legs, means for vertically adjustingsaid upper legs with respect to said lower legs and thereby verticallyadjusting said table-top, a separate bracket, each of said bracketsbeing substantially in the form of a right triangle and having avertical side formed from two parallel wires, a horizontal side formedfrom two parallel wires, and an inclined hypotenuse side formed from twoparallel wires, means for vertically adjustably securing one of saidbrackets to each of said lower rear legs, and a work receiving membercarried by said brackets.

3. Work handling equipment for use with a sewing machine, said equipmentcomprising in combination, a tabletop, a pair of upper front legs and apair of upper rear legs attached to said table-top, a pair of lowerfront legs and a pair of lower rear legs, means for vertically adjustingsaid upper legs with respect to said lower legs and thereby verticallyadjusting said table-top, a work-board means for both vertically andlaterally adjustably securing one end of said work-board to one of saidlower front legs, a vertically adjustable leg secured adjacent to theother end of said work-board, said Work-board thereby being adjustablewith respect to said lower front leg and independently adjustable withrespect to said table-top, a separate bracket vertically adjustablysecured to each of said lower rear legs, and a work receiving membercarried by said brackets.

4. Work handling equipment for attachment to a rear portion of a sewingmachine table, said work handling equipment comprising a work receivingmember formed from a wire frame having upstanding and horizontalportions defining a front wall, a rear wall, two end Walls and a bottomwall, an upstanding separate replaceable hard board cover securedadjacent to the top of the wire frame portion defining said front wall,an upstanding separate replaceable hard board cover secured adjacent tothe top of the wire frame portion defining said rear wall, an upstandingseparate replaceable hard board cover secured adjacent to the top of thewire frame portions defining each of said end walls, a separatereplaceable hard board bottom cover loosely positioned on top of thewire frame portion defining said bottom wall, said bottom cover lockingthe lower ends of said upstanding separate replaceable hard board coversagainst their adjacent wire frame portions, and said bottom cover beingeasily removable and thereby providing an easy means for cleaning saidwork receiving member, and means adapted for attaching said workhandling equipment to a sewing machine table.

5. Work handling equipment for use with a sewing machine table, saidwork handling equipment comprising a work receiving member formed from awire frame having a plurality of side and end bars and a plurality ofcross bars connected to said side and end bars and all of said barsforming a pocket, and a hard board panel fitted into the pocket formedby said side and end bars and said cross bars supporting said hardboard, and means on one end of said wire frame adapted for bothvertically and laterally adjustably securing said wire frame to saidsewing machine table.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS620,277 Case Feb. 28, 1899 838,421 Kerstetter Dec. 11, 1906 1,044,492Clark et a1. Nov. 19, 1912 1,278,678 Kidder Sept. 10, 1918 2,104,072Carr Jan. 4, 1938 2,170,062 Nordmark Aug. 22, 1939 2,348,043 Webb et a1May 2, 1944 2,426,097 Heller Aug. 19, 1947 2,469,968 Kessler May 10,1949 2,499,062 Greenberg Feb. 28, 1950 2,660,496 Lake Nov. 24, 19532,875,006 Hale Feb. 24, 1959

